Rep. Tom Price Confirmed as New Health and Human Services Secretary

Price expected to lead executive branch efforts to roll back Affordable Care Act

February 10, 2017 — Rep. Tom Price was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by a 52-47 vote early Friday morning.

The Georgia representative, a former orthopedic surgeon, will now be the leader of a department with a reported annual budget of more than $1 trillion. He is expected to be a strong ally for President Donald Trump in repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

He will be the first physician to lead HHS since 1993, according to the New York Times.

Price’s selection by President Donald Trump was hotly contested by Senate Democrats led by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. They expressed concern about Price’s desire to roll back the Medicare and Medicaid programs, potentially impacting insurance coverage for millions of Americans. During his tenure as chairman of the House Budget Committee, Price backed proposals to shift the financial structure of Medicare from an open-ended commitment to fixed block grants for states to apply as desired.

Opponents also took issue with the congressman actively trading shares he owned in healthcare companies while serving on committees that helped direct healthcare policy.

Price has been one of the more vocal critics of the ACA, and previously authored the ACA-alternative Empowering Patients First Act of 2015. Provisions of the bill include:

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